Don’t start me talkin’ . . . .

Listen here to this week’s show:

Cruising with The Commissioner #80 (25.10.12)

Well, there’s been plenty of action here in the Grand Duchy this week, with visits from some friendly faces, some social events and some welcome arrivals of new (and not so new) musical treats. So, here’s hoping that we find you in excellent spirits in your corner of the universe too.

As Thursday night rolled around again, we ensured that the door of the Cruise Mobile was open and we were on hand to extend the warmest of welcomes to one and all, along with this unmissable opportunity to jump aboard with the rest of the Cruising Crew to go Cruising with The Commissioner. It proved to be a rather special week, because our good pal Arfa Pinetop invited us to Pinetop’s Palace, amidst the rolling landscape of the Stanmore Territories, to capture his reminiscences of musical adventures, past and present . . . . and we’ve made it one of our occasional ‘Talk To Me’ features this week. So, no Three From Me or Memory Lane features this week, but with a firm grip on the edge of our seats, we summoned up our sense of adventure and joined Arfa Pinetop for some great music and stories . . . . and discovered that once he got started, there was no stopping him . . . . at least until the Jamieson’s ran out. His selection reminded us of the great film ‘Crossroads’ and inspired us to post a copy of the guitar duel from the film, which we have posted on the webpage.

During the past week, fellow wireless fm DJ the Auburn Phantom paid a visit to Cruise Control and we played through some ‘choice choons’ and found a few soul favourites, as well as some ‘girls with guitars’, which has inspired a possible feature for a future show.

Well, amongst the feedback from last week’s show, we received a special request from last week’s Three From Me guest, Mr T, who invited us to reprise one of his selections in case anyone missed it last week. It was an excellent track from Ollie Nightingale called ‘I Don’t Know Why I Love You’ and so we’re very happy to oblige.

To get us started on this week’s cruise across musical frontiers, in and out of time zones and jumping genres, we set off in the company of Roy Milton and his 1955 recording on Specialty records called ‘What Can I Do’ and with breathless enthusiasm we went on to join Johnny Otis & Marci Lee with ‘Can’t You Hear Me Callin’ . . . .

Cruising for the border . . . . . 
What Can I Do – Roy Milton
Can’t You Hear Me Callin’ – Johnny Otis & Marci Lee
Three Alley Cats – Roy Hall
I Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere – Junior Walker & The Allstars
She’s Almost You – Billy Harner
Untie Me – The Tams
54321 – Manfred Mann
Jitterbug Boogie – Bill Wyman
I Don’t Know Why I Love You – Ollie Nightingale
You Can’t Sit Down (Parts 1&2) – The Phil Upchurch Combo

Talk To Me . . . . . with Arfa Pinetop 
Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie – Pinetop Perkins
Matchbox – Carl Perkins
I’ll Play The Blues For You – Les Wilson & The Mighty Houserockers
Shakin’ All Over – Johnny Kidd & The Pirates
I’m The Face – The High Numbers
Last Chicken In the Shop – The Les Dawson Syndicate
Hi Heel Sneakers – Brian Knight
Call the Cops – Sean Costello
Got My Mojo Working – Muddy Waters
No More Doggin’ – James Cotton
Can Blue Men Sing The Whites – The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
Don’t Start Me Talkin’ – Sonny Boy Williamson
Cotton Needs Pickin’ – Frank Frost
Travellin’ Riverside Blues – Robert Johnson
You Can’t Judge A Book By Its Cover – Rey Anton & The Peppermint Men
I’m Tore Down – Freddie King

Cruising further down the road . . . .
Living Thing – Electric Light Orchestra
Spooky – Dusty Springfield
Monster Mash – Boris Pickett & The Crypt Kickers
Deep In My Heart – The Blossoms
Need Your Loving – The Flirtations
Wild Child – The Sapphires
I’m Just A Fool For You – Bettye LaVette
My Baby Left Me – The Rockin Dukes
You Broke My Heart – Cornel Gunter & The Ermines

Well, as we approached Halloween, it was too good an opportunity to play something spooky . . . . which is just what we did . . . . although there was plenty more that we could have included! We also found time for some delectable soul covers of Joe South songs, including the Tams and Billy Harner. Our adventures around the music emporia hereabouts was very fruitful this week, especially our visit to one of our favourites record shops, ‘Casbah Records’ in Greenwich Village. But, you’ll hear some more of that in future weeks.

There were a few birthdays that we noted this week, including Manfred Mann and Bill Wyman, so we played something by each as a minor contribution to the celebrations.

Sadly, it seemed, all too soon, our time ran out on us, but we managed to finish with a flourish and we crammed in some fine examples of rock, soul and real rhythm and blues along the way. We were very grateful to our special guest Arfa Pinetop for bringing his own contributions to our playlist this week and perhaps we’ll get him back again soon.

As we parked up the Cruise Mobile, we consoled ourselves that in only 7 days . . . . we could bring it round again to collect you all for another Cruising with The Commissioner, mindful, as ever, that if that sounds too far off, you can always get a fix from the Tuesday night Mafia on Wireless fm, where they’ll make you and offer you can’t refuse and play you music you’ll never forget.

So, until the next time we go Cruising with The Commissioner . . . . remember to . . . . have fun!

Crossroads guitar duel . . . .

Take a listen to the guitar duel from the film Crossroads:

Heaven on wheels . . . .

Listen here to this week’s show:

Cruising with The Commissioner #79 (18.10.12)

Well, as the days are getting grey and the evenings are getting darker sooner, we recommended that you don’t look back and don’t look down, but just jump aboard the Cruise Mobile and join the merry throng who are all set to Cruising with The Commissioner. We can offer you the warmest of welcomes and plenty of great rock, soul and real rhythm & blues for you . . . . so what more could you want?

We caught up with a number of friendly faces this week and had some fun along the way. We had a musical adventure to one of my favourite record shops hereabouts and were followed home by some very tasty 45s, some of which we included in this week’ playlist . . . . and others are waiting their turn for future week’s.

As ever, we much appreciate your feedback on the Cruising website and in your emails, so keep in touch and let us know how we’re doing. Occasionally, one of the Cruising Crew drops a big hint about something they think could be added to a future playlist and we try to oblige where we can. So, this week we featured a track from Bettye LaVette, which was suggested by our good pal Arfa Pinetop . . . . . and the song in question was ‘Nearer To You’, which was the flipside of her 1969 chart success on the Silver Fox label called ‘He Made A Woman Out Of Me’.

There were a few birthdays this week which we marked appropriately for Rick Parfitt, Chuck Berry and Tom Petty. I was just too inviting and we couldn’t resist choosing Tom Petty’s ‘Free Fallin’, especially after seeing the live coverage of Austrian daredevil skydiver Felix Baumgartner . . . . . who jumped from 128,000 feet over Roswell, New Mexico setting several world records as he plummeted to Earth at speeds of close to 1,000 feet per minute.

This week’s cruise got off to a flying start with Calvin Boze & his All-stars and their 1950 recording for Aladdin records, called Safronia B . . . . and barely pausing for breath we followed up with something . . . . . very much in the spirit of Cruising with The Commissioner . . . . from Richard Berry & The Lockettes with their 1958 single on Flip records, called ‘Heaven On Wheels’.

Cruising way out there . . . . .
Safronia B – Calvin Boze & His All-Stars
Heaven On Wheels – Richard Berry & The Lockettes
This Is The Night – Buddy Thompson
Hey Bartender – Floyd Dixon & His Band
She Said Yeah – Larry Williams
Ain’t Gonna Tell You – Frank Wilson
Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) – Chris Clark
I’m Gonna Love You A Long Time – Patti & The Emblems
Baby I Need Your Lovin’ – The Supremes
Nearer To You – Bettye LaVette
Nothing I Can Do – Al Hill & The Love Butlers
You Can Love Yourself – Keb Mo’

Three From Me . . . . . with Mr. T
I Know – Mojoba
I Don’t Want To Know – Johnny Adams
I Don’t Know Why I Love You – Ollie Nightingale

Cruising with the volume up . . . .
Ice In The Sun – Status Quo
Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Diploma For Two – Chuck Berry
It’s A Doggone Crying Shame – Ivory Joe Hunter
I Got Plenty – Sheri Washington
It’s Growing – Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers
Wonderous Place – Andy Rose
My Baby – Shiva’s Headband
Got To Have Something – Mark Knopfler

Memory Lane  . . . . . with The Commissioner
Easy Beat – Bert Weedon

Cruising for home . . . . .
Tutta Mia La Citta – Giuliano Palma & The Bluebeaters
Do Anything You Wanna – Eddie & The Hot Rods
I Don’t Need No Doctor – Ray Charles
No Better For Ya – Jo Armstead
I’m On My Way – Barbara Dane
I’ll Never Forget You – The Metros
Starting The Hurt All Over Again – Brenda Holloway
Flaming Mamie – Billy Hambric
Don’t Cut Out On Me – Tender Slim
Boot ‘Em Up – The Du Droppers

It’s always fun when Mr T returns to Cruising with The Commissioner, as he did this week. He arrived all geared up with some excellent soul sides for his Three From Me selection. The Cruisettes were eager to hear what he had to play and they were certainly well rewarded this time. . . . . and we’ve renewed his ‘Access All Areas’ pass so that he can come back again soon.

Our time travel adventure down Memory Lane took us back to the 60s, when the BBC ruled the UK airwaves and ‘popular music’ as it was politely called was severely rationed in the radio schedules. One of the live music shows broadcast by the BBC, was a Sunday morning show called Easy Beat, presented by Brian Matthew . . . . and we had a deep rummage in the Cruising Library to find a 45 on Top Rank records by Bert Weedon, who had written and recorded the theme tune for the show.

We didn’t forget to include some rock violin and this week we’re indebted to our good pal The Spongeman, who recommended a track from the 1970 Capitol album by Shiva’s Headband, called ‘Take Me To The Mountains’. We chose the opening song, ‘My Baby’ and marvelled at Spencer Perskin’s fine fiddle playing.

As time was running out, we realised that there was still a pile of goodies that we hadn’t had time to play. So, we promised to weave them into next week’s playlist, along with some other fine examples of rock, soul and real rhythm & blues. So, be sure to come again next week, when we will look forward to more of your good company and the opportunity to do it all again. We have dusted down the Cruise Mobile and parked it ready for a quick get away for next Thursday’s Cruising with The Commissioner and until then, remember to . . . . have fun!

Gotta slow down . . . .

Listen here to this week’s show:

Cruising with The Commissioner #78 (11.10.12)

Well, this week seems to have passed rather quickly here in the Grand Duchy and Thursday’ Cruising with The Commissioner almost crept up on us by surprise, but we were strangely prepared for it! We’ve had a few welcome distractions from the mundane and have much enjoyed some good gigs and even a London film festival, featuring the first film from our good pal DJ Leyton Rocks . . . . and well received it certainly was! Our musical postman has been doing his worthy duties to bring us some welcome additions to the Cruising Library and he remains ever cheery and enthused when he calls . . . . and it lingers long after he’s gone on his way.

As ever, it was good to have the most excellent company of the Cruising Crew, as we threw caution to the four winds and set off in the Cruise Mobile for this week’s Cruising with The Commissioner. We made sure there were plenty of juicy gems on the playlist for our musical adventure, as we went across musical frontiers, in and out of time zones and jumping genres, to bring you some of the best in rock soul and real rhythm & blues. As if to prove the point, we kicked off with ‘Mojo Hannah’, a 45 on the Jubilee label from Betty Harris, which we followed up fast with ‘Bring It On Back’, a 1955 single on Spark Records, from Mister Ruffin.

Our Bridgitte Bardot birthday track last week generated a few comments and I’m grateful to Arfa Pinetop for his resultant suggestion, but I had already filed it away by then! So, set your sensors to rock, soul and ‘real’ rhythm and blues and check out this week’s playlist:

Cruising for the open spaces
Mojo Hannah – Betty Harris
Bring It On Back – Mister Ruffin
Hold Me Baby – The Chords
Ko Ko Mo – Gene & Eunice
Cruised – Frank Dalton & The Dalton Gang
It’s Your Move – Freddie King
Gotta Slow Down – The Nimmo Brothers
Jump The Joint – Eugene Hideaway Bridges
You Can Love Yourself – Papa George & Micky Moody

Three From Me  . . . . . with The Vikster
Walking On The Sun – Smash Mouth
Liar Liar – Castaways
Going Up The Country – Canned Heat

Cruising with Big Jim Sullivan
Bad Boy – Marty Wilde & The Wildcats
Trambone – The Krew Kats
Summertime – Gene Vincent & The Krew Kats
Stand Up And Say That – The Nashville Five
Out Of Time – Chris Farlowe
Candyman – Brian Poole & The Tremeloes
Yeh Yeh – Georgie Fame
Itchycoo Park – The Small Faces
Sunshine Superman – Big Jim Sullivan
Who Do You Love – Green Bullfrog

Memory Lane . . . . . with The Commissioner
Dimples – John Lee Hooker

Cruising for home  . . . .
Mercy Mercy – Jeff Lynne
All Along The Watchtower – Larry McCray
Leaving Here – Tommy Good
Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) – Frank Wilson
Baby I Need Your Lovin’ – Gene Pitney
Baby Boy’s In Love – Jimmy Holliday
Angel Of My Life – Richard Berry
Roll Baby Roll – Floyd Dixon & His Band
Blue & Lonesome – Jimmie Lee with Jay Franks & His Rockets of Rhythm

We paid our own tribute to Motown’s Frank Wilson who passed away this past week. He was a long-time record producer and songwriter for Motown records, but for soul fans, his name is most closely linked to a rare demo single that he cut under his own name for Motown in 1965, ‘Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)’. Only three copies of the single survived in the Motown archives and one was eventually bootlegged to become a Northern Soul classic. We also said a sad farewell to one of the UK’s legendary guitarists, Big Jim Sullivan. He had a long and distinguished career as group member, a sought after session guitarist and a record producer. So, there’s lots of interesting moments in his story and we provided a few selected highlights in our feature on him this week.

Our gig list this week included the Nimmo Brothers, who were on fine form and provided a sensational gig, where we bumped into Eugene Hideaway Bridges who had just flown in from San Francisco and stopped by to chat to us about his forthcoming album and tour. Another of the acts that we caught live this week was Papa George and Micky Moody, who are well known on the UK blues circuit, but this was a chance to see them together and the crowd let them know it in no uncertain terms just how good they were!

The Vikster stopped by to deliver another Three From Me selection, which celebrated the memory of sunny days and very welcome memories they were too. The response in the chatroom during the show was very positive about her selection too! Our trip down Memory Lane served as a reminder of another work colleague, who proved to have a keen interest in music, which had long gone undetected by yours truly, until it was revealed, rather by accident.

Well, before the sound of the rattling cans signalled the close of our evening of Cruising, we squeezed in a fine piece of R&B from Texan, Floyd Dixon & His Band, ‘Roll Baby Roll’ and finished off with a flourish with a really rare jump blues on Modern Records called ‘Blue & Lonesome’ from Jimmie Lee with Jay Franks & His Rockets of Rhythm. But, all too soon, we had to say our sad farewells and park up the Cruise Mobile until next week, when once again we can go Cruising with The Commissioner. So, until we meet again, remember to . . . . have fun!

It’s your move . . . . .

Listen here to this week’s show:

Cruising with The Commissioner #77 (04.10.12)

Well, there have been plenty of social events to keep us entertained this week and most enjoyable they were too! So, we’ve been catching up with good pals, getting along to some notable gigs and keeping a welcome for our musical postman. But, we still managed to squeeze in some valuable time listen for more excellent tracks to bring you. So, there’s been much to put us in good spirits and we’re hoping that you’ve been having fun in your corner of the world too.

The turntables have not been idle in preparing this week’s playlist for Cruising with The Commissioner and our search in the dark corners of the Cruising library found a few lost and forgotten gems to share in your good company. The chatroom chatter and the feedback on the Cruising website is encouraging and keeps us on our toes, as well as helping to shape our future playlists. Indeed, it is good to know that the show still manages to capture the interest of the Cruising Crew and the occasional passing listener who might catch the show live or on the website.

We heard the sad news of the passing of legendary UK guitarist, Big Jim Sullivan, this week. So, we are planning a special feature for next week’s show to provide a glimpse of the vast range of notable recordings that have been graced by his guitar work . . . . which means a deal of well informed research and some inspired choices of tracks

Well, the evenings may getting more chilly outside, but we keep the warmest of welcomes for one and all here at Cruise Control. When Thursday night arrived, we had the Cruise Mobile all tuned up and ready to take us across musical frontiers, in and out of time zones and jumping genres, in order to sample some of the very best in rock, soul and ‘real’ rhythm and blues. So, we extended an open invitation to sit back and relax in the sumptuous leather seats and enjoy the ride.

Setting the pace for our cruise was the fabulous Little Richard with an excellent slice of 50s R&B on the Specialty label, which was followed by New Orleans group, The Spiders, with another fine sound of the 50s . . . . their Imperial recording of ‘I’m Slippin’ In’. Sadly, there proved to be no time left to fit in anything from Gladys Mills, but don’t let that stop you from adding to the requests we’ve already received, but here’s what we did pack into this week’s playlist:

Cruising for fun . . . . .
Keep A Knockin’ – Little Richard
I’m Slippin’ In – The Spiders
Have Mercy Baby – Buddy Lamp
Wow Wow – Willie Egan
What Can A Man Do – Ben E King
Fever – Helen Shapiro
Do You Saint Tropez – Brigitte Bardot
What Does It Take – Paul Carrack
That’s Alright – Ed Crook
Looking For A Lover – The Patterson Twins
Games People Play – Bettye LaVette
Cat’s Eyes – The Ted Taylor Four

Three From Me . . . . . . with Johnny99
Jump – Aztec Camera
Sail Away – Frankie Miller
Get Out Of Denver – Eddie & The Hot Rods

Cruising in good company . . . . .
From Russia With Love – Giuliano Palma & The Bluebeaters
That Stuff – Supurbia
Mind Excursion – Tradewinds
Friday On My Mind – Earthquake
Hurricane – Bob Dylan
It’s Your Move – Howard Tate
It’s Growing – Margie Johnson
Crossroads – Ry Cooder

Memory Lane . . . . . Lowell Fulson
Talkin’ Woman – Lowell Fulson

Cruising for home . . . .
Into The Night – Santana (featuring Chad Kroeger)
Green Door – Esquerita
Baby What I Mean – The Spiral Staircase
Rescue Me – Dee Dee Warwick
Could It Be – The Chords
Working On Your Heart – Sterling Harrison

The Cruise Control intergalactic communications station has been busy monitoring communications with The Shake, DJ Leyton Rocks, The Vikster, Richard Mann, Arfa Pinetop, The Spinmeister and Joe Duckworth. Meanwhile, a flying visit from Johnny 99 provided us with another selection of his choices for this week’s Three From Me.

Now, this week’s detour down Memory Lane took us back to May of 1969 and an evening venture to London’s famous 100 club in Oxford Street, where the headliner was bluesman, Lowell Fulson. His reputation ensured a packed venue and the heat was soon rising along with the crowd’s enthusiasm. But we didn’t know that this would be made an even more memorable night when BB King sat in with Lowell on stage and together they rocked the 100 Club. A great night indeed.

Last week we missed saying a sad farewell to singer/songwriter Joe South, but he left us a legacy of fine songs, including ‘Games People Play’. . . . and we found an excellent soul interpretation of the song by Bettye LaVette, which we added to the playlist. But, all too soon, we had to bring our cruise to a close, dust down the Cruise Mobile and say our farewells until next week. Of course, we’re cheered by knowing that next Thursday, we can come back and do it all again. So, we’re looking forward to more of your good company then.

We’ve already earmarked some goodies for our next playlist to tantalise your musical taste buds. So, until the next time we go Cruising with The Commissioner. . . . remember to . . . . . have fun!